I've *misplaced* one of my socks from the last pair, so I technically have 3 of the 20 socks I need to meet my goal. (sheepish grin)
I felt the need for some major color after a very grey winter!!
Titus 2:11-14 - "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
God is about redeeming us from the guilt of sin. God is about cleansing us form the stain of sin. He deals with sin in His house. Those in heaven have white robes – they are clean – Rev 7:9. God is able to present you faultless before Him. He does not come to you as an avenger, as you are in Christ. He is not against you. He comes to refine you as silver. He comes to redeem you, and one way He does that is here at the table. God deals with our sin in many ways. He shows us the consequences of our sin in the lives of others, maybe friends or on the news. He describes our sin in His Word. He presents us with His mercy, too, in the Gospel. He also deals with our sin here, as we experience grace in abundance here. Instead of the wages of sin, our death, we are adopted into the royal family, and seated at His table. When we are faced with such overwhelming grace, we become sensitive to remaining sin.
10/18/09
by Doug Wilson:
"When we are critical of others, we are in it for one of two reasons. We are either critical because we are loving them, and are seeking their best interest, or we are critical because we are loving ourselves, and are seeking some way to compete effectively with them. This means that our criticism is either borne from a love of God, or it is borne from a love of self.
The critical spirit bites and devours. The critical spirit tears down and does not rebuild. The critical spirit speaks without thinking or reflecting. The critical spirit does not have equal weights and measures; it does not apply the same level of scrutiny to itself as it does to the other. The critical spirit always wins the game that it is playing, and does so by pretending to the neutral referee. The critical spirit belongs in Hell, but is often found in church.
The discerning spirit wants to protect, not destroy. The discerning spirit warns; it does not push. The discerning spirit can speak hard words, and often does, but it is the scalpel of the surgeon, not the cudgel of the mugger. The discerning spirit rejoices when corrections are made, and is glad when planned corrections become unnecessary. The discerning spirit is gentle or hard, depending on the need. The discerning spirit administers faithful wounds, not misplaced bruises.
Everyone here is in relationships with others, and so that means that everyone here is either critical or discerning. It is not possible to sit this one out."
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.
Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.
Sermon text: Hebrews 4 - a better Sabbath rest
Nehemiah 8:9-10 - "
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”"
Ultimate rest happens here. When you sit down at your family table after a day of work and eat the evening meal, you are at rest, or should be. When God sits you down at our Lord’s Table after a week of work and you eat His covenant meal, you are at rest, or should be. You have repented, you are receiving, you are resting in Him. Ultimate rest happens here. Now, some of you are on eggshells as your children take the cup. Hold it so it doesn’t spill; not on the dress! Some of you are performing works of necessity even now. This side of glory rest is always mixed with distraction and anxiety. But ultimate rest is pictured here. In the place of responsibility Jesus will give reward. He takes your anxiety and gives relief. He does this as the burden and weight of your sin rolls off of you and on to Jesus at the cross.
10/11/09
Westminster Shorter Catechism Q85-86
85What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
86What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, (Heb. 10:39) whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.
The evangelistic question “Are you saved?” meets today with the rejoinder, “Saved from what?” We must escape God’s wrath which we deserve. We have to repent and believe in Christ. Repenting is turning away from sin, seeing it for the horror it is. Faith is receiving Christ and resting on Him to take that sin away from God’s sight. Repent, receive, rest. This is what we must do. This is what we do each worship service. We have repented; we are now receiving Christ in His Word. Soon we will rest at the table as we receive Christ there.
10/11/09
Heb 4:12-13 - "
There are two ways to take these verses: craven fear, or surrender. The one who resists God, still knows there is an all knowing God out there who sees all his sin. And God is strong enough to judge him for it, too. He has a razor sharp sword that can slice and dice you for your sin, and He has an eye that sees every milligram’s worth of that sin. You are toast. So with craven fear, it’s either fight or flight. We cower in a corner and deny His existence, or we blaspheme Him.
But when we read ahead the next verses say we will receive grace. There is another option: surrender and submission. We give up, confess our sin, and trust Him that we will survive under the knife of His Word.
Sermon text: 2 Samuel 3
Whether you are tempted with subtle pride, like Abner, to think you are the center of things, or have committed horrendous sins like Joab, you are at the son of David’s table, and He receives you like He did Abner, on one condition – that you hand over to Him your Michal. This means 2 things for us. We must hand over to God alone our guilt, not trying to deal with it ourselves by covering it up or by working harder, but trusting God to take it away at the cross of Christ, by grace. And second, we have to hand over to God our hopes and dreams, the life we hope to have. It is His kingdom, not ours. We are not the center, here to give Christ our all-important allegiance that He so desperately needs. No, no. We are here to receive HIS blessing. We are Ish Bosheth – we used to claim the throne, but we have to give our Michal to David. That highest hope you have for your future – lay it at the feet of Jesus, surrender it to Him. We must give our all to Christ.
10/4/09
Phil 2:1-4
Each Christian goes through a Copernican revolution at his conversion. We realize that what we think, and do and feel isn’t the center, the standard, it isn’t right just because it is ME. Rather, we have to confess to God that His will and Word is the standard, and that we have broken it. As believers after we are converted, struggling in the remaining sinful nature in us, we are still tempted to make ourselves the center. The pull of gravity to selfish ambition, interest, and conceit is not gone. But the Son has risen in our hearts, and we now have a new center.
10/4/09
I can't decide if Ilike this latest quilt or not. I started it by trying a new technique of piecing the "postage stamp" squares in the center. I first ironed all the squares onto a piece of water soluable interfacing, then sewed up the long seams. The process is described here. It was an interesting way to piece a lot of little squares quickly, but I was not a fan of sewing through the water soluable interfacing. It was like sewing through plastic! Some squares shifted a bit, so the corners are a bit wonky in a few places. The finished postage stamp section is only about 8x11 inches. 
Here's where my dilemma comes in... I had this fun tiny quilt, but wanted to make a it larger, perhaps a baby quilt. But what to do for the rest of the top? The center part is busy, so I decided a nearly-solid surrounding fabric with some simple quilting would balance it out. But I'm not sure it worked. I feel like the center section is "trapped" in a box, but perhaps the diagonal quilting gives the piece the needed movement. I did end up putting a bright yellow binding around it, so the eye bounces back and forth between that and the center . I guess I like the finished effect, but perhaps the colors aren't quite "baby" colors. What do you think?1 Cor
The church continues to misunderstand the warning in these verses, not remembering the context of Corinthian division in the body of Christ. The problem wasn’t that they weren’t doctrinally discerning where Christ’s physical body was in relation to the Communion elements. The problem was that they were acting like lone ranger individuals in the corporate body of Christ, with no obligations to their brothers and sisters. This makes it especially ironic that our common practice is to descend into ourselves, away from others, and close our eyes when Paul warns us against this very thing. You’re not seeing Christ’s body, you aren’t recognizing, perceiving it, in the church gathered to partake. So I do strongly encourage you, open your eyes to partake; even turn around and look at others with a smile. In dealing with your sin at this meal, don’t turn away from others; turn to them. See other redeemed sinners; see yourself in them. God has made us to need one another in our fight against sin. This Supper is a sober reminder of Christ’s death for us and our sin; it is also a picture of what resulted: food for God’s people. We are the bread. Consider the body of Christ, the fruit of His death, as you eat and drink, proclaiming His death.
9/20/09
10th commandment
The commandment against coveting is a command to be content in whatever you have. We are to be content with our station in life, our income, our family. Were you called as a slave? Don’t be concerned about it; but if you can gain freedom, do so and use it. Do you find yourself single? Poor? Be content, and also be diligent to improve your state for God’s glory and the service of others.
Gen 3:8-11 - "
Sin makes us afraid. We run from God; we run from others. Forgiveness and love received casts out fear. We turn TO God; we turn TO others. God invites us to receive forgiveness by confessing our sin. Have you eaten from the tree? Yes, we all have. Own up to it all. Take the consequences. Tremble before Him, but know He is a merciful Father.
9/20/09
The Olympic knitting is over and now it's back to my goal of 10 pairs of socks in 2010.9th commandment
The commandment against lying is a command to speak the truth in love, for the edification of the body. We are to guard the reputation of ourselves and our neighbor, by exercising discretion. Discretion is a virtue, which speaks the right truths in the right places. Discretion does not cover up the truth, but knows where and when to speak it. We may not pre-judge what the truth is. We are often tempted to do this by undue speculation, trying to see God’s hand of providence in what just happened; or by coming to a conclusion without enough good evidence, just so we can opine and display our great wisdom about things. We should take as seriously what we say to one another as if we were on the witness stand in court, under oath.
The Team USA Olympic hat is complete!! I finished it just before the men's hockey game went into OT last night. Fun to watch, but more fun to finish my first fair isle knitting project! 
Isaiah 1:18 - "Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
We are to reason with the Lord, to deal with Him, and let Him deal with us. He gives us the promise, even as He calls us to confess, that He will forgive us if we are willing and obedient. You will know your repentance as you are willing to repent before the Lord, as you are willing to offer it to others you have wronged, and as you desire to act differently.
Assurance of Forgiveness – As you have confessed sincerely to God, know that your Father in heaven isn’t angry at you waiting for you to get your repentance right. He is instead loving you as a father, and teaching you how to live a more godly life. As an ambassador of Christ, authorized to speak in his name, I declare to you your sins are forgiven through Christ.
9/13/09
